The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has revealed that the death toll from consumption of suspected locally manufactured alcoholic and herbal mixtures in Ondo State has increased to 48 with five persons reportedly rendered totally blind.
So far, 182 instances have been registered in connection with the incident, which has affected communities in Odigbo Local Government Area and sections of Irele Local Government Area, the agency stated, reports The Nation.
In a statement issued yesterday by its Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC said laboratory analysis of samples of the suspected concoctions revealed significant amounts of methanol, a highly poisonous toxin that can cause blindness, organ failure and death.
The FDA said initial findings supported fears that the locally made alcoholic/herbal concoctions constituted a severe public health danger, but more confirmation tests were still being performed.
Affected communities include New Town, Odole, Okele, Orita Odigbo, Araromi-Obu and Oniparaga, with the highest incidence of the incident being in Odigbo Town and Araromi-Obu.
The agency said the event was first reported in early September when locals who had purportedly ingested the suspected concoctions started getting unexpected and serious ailments, some of them fast deteriorating.
“According to the initial report, the total death was 31, 20 deaths in Odigbo Town and 11 in Araromi-Obu.” But the number of reported illnesses and deaths have risen via sustained surveillance and investigations.
Of the 182 affected patients, 90 have been admitted to hospitals and discharged while six continue to be treated.
Five persons were reported to be fully blind and two persons half blind. 31 other persons received treatment as outpatients.
Clinical symptoms described in the afflicted include headache, general body weakness and pains, vision abnormalities, trouble in breathing and altered consciousness.
NAFDAC further announced that 15 persons had been arrested in connection with suspected production, sale and distribution of the accused locally produced alcoholic and herbal beverages.
The agency said it took samples of the suspected concoctions for laboratory, forensic and toxicological analysis in an effort to assess their chemical composition and to detect possible harmful chemicals, adulterants, contaminants or undeclared ingredients.
It stated 15 unlabelled samples were tested for toxicological, microbiological and chemical screening.
NAFDAC said all the items examined induced critical health conditions in the animals during an acute oral toxicity test carried out with laboratory mice, while about 50 percent death was observed in six of the 15 samples tested.
Several of the animals that became critically ill recovered after 24 hours, but the EPA stated continued exposure could create a deadly risk.
Chemical screening also revealed Cannabis indica in 11 samples and gas chromatography verified the presence of large amounts of methanol.
Methanol is an industrial alcohol which can cause serious poisoning if swallowed. It can destroy the optic nerve and cause irreversible blindness and can also induce organ failure and death.
NAFDAC stated the significant fatality rate reported in the animal toxicity test and the verified presence of methanol signalled serious threat to public health posed by the samples.
But it emphasised the conclusions were preliminary needing more confirming analyses.
Further confirmatory testing is ongoing to discover other potential hazardous chemicals and to quantify the levels of methanol,” the agency said.
It said adding methanol to oral preparations was very harmful and might cause serious poisoning including blindness, organ failure and death.
Surveillance, case management, investigation and risk-control measures were underway as authorities attempt to establish complete facts of the incident and prevent further exposure, the agency said.
The NAFDAC stated the results were still subject to verification as investigations and surveillance continued.
The agency expressed its sympathies to families who lost their loved ones in the disaster and called for ongoing vigilance as investigations into the alleged hazardous mixtures go on.
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